Winemaker Notes
This wine has an intense color and aromas with ample notes of red berries. On the palate gives a body of great balance with tannins well integrated into the structure, which ensures elegance and longevity.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A fresh, herbaceous nose features notes of cherry, blood orange, fennel and mint, with a burst of anise crackling in the background. On the palate, cranberries bring out the tarter side of the blood orange and cherry notes, while a salty stoniness shimmers as an undertone. Acidity drips off firm tannins. Polaner Selections
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino is made with fruit from vines in "cool" schistous galestro soils. It is a soft and silky wine with bright cherry and cassis. The wine plays its best cards in terms of mouthfeel with long, polished tannins and seamless flavors of wild fruit, crushed stone, licorice and grilled herb. There is a hint of crushed white pepper on the close. This wine will appeal to those who enjoy a very silky side to Sangiovese.
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James Suckling
Cloves, sandalwood, dried mushrooms, currants and spearmint on the nose. It’s polished with firm, fine tannins and a full body. Creamy, savory finish with some ashy minerality.
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Wine Spectator
A sleek red, with juniper, sage, eucalyptus, iron and earth aromas and flavors highlighted by cherry and strawberry. Packs a vibrant, firm structure that keeps this delineated on the long, detailed finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Medicinal herbs, cedar leather, and black cherry exude from the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino, with a cooling lift of wet stone. Medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and and approachable mouthfeel, it has a soft structure and lovely integration throughout. It is pure and straightforward and more about texture. Best after 2023.
Rating: 92+
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.